Due to the impact of the new coronavirus, the demand for commercial butter is declining, so the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has decided to reduce the import quota for butter for the new year to 6,400 tons, which is less than half this year. ..
Japan is supposed to import a certain amount of dairy products every year under the WTO = World Trade Organization agreement, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has decided to limit the import quota for butter for the new year to 6,400 tons.
This is less than half of the 14,000 tons this year, which is the smallest since 2017, when import quotas were set for each year.
This is due to the influence of the new coronavirus, which is declining in demand for commercial butter used for eating out and souvenir sweets, and milk and dairy products for school lunches and restaurants have lost their place. This is because domestic inventories are increasing as manufacturers switch production to long-lasting butter.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, inventories as of the end of December last year were 35,000 tons, an increase of 49% from the previous year.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said, "Demand is declining due to the influence of the new coronavirus, and inventory is accumulating, so we temporarily reduced the import quota. We would like to increase the demand for domestic butter and adjust the supply and demand." is.